The Windows 10 Experience | Part 2

After a few days of having Windows 10 on the new laptop, I thought I would go ahead and post part 2 of this experience. I'm not going to pretend to share any great insight, but rather to just share some thoughts and opinions.

Travels to the Edge.
I said before that I found Microsoft's new browser, Edge, to be just as useful as Internet Explorer in that I used it to download Firefox. I decided that in all fairness I should actually go ahead and give it a try.

From what I can tell, it's a fairly straight forward web browser. The interface is clean and simple, yet seems a little blockier than what I am used to. There are no "curves" to it, as there are with many other programs. This almost seems to be the way with Windows 10 in general. Nothing inherently wrong with squared edges and such, but it definitely doesn't look pretty.

I started this post in Edge, but I just had to switch to Firefox instead. I'm used to the Blogger interface giving me a WYSIWYG interface, but instead in Edge it was HTML only. I'm not brushed up on my HTML enough to be comfortable working with it. In Firefox I have the option to switch between WYSIWYG and HTML. Perhaps there is a plug-in that Edge needs for it to work, but it did not request to add anything, and it Firefox it just works.

Speed. I really don't know how to measure a browser's speed to be able to compare Edge to Firefox. There are times that it seemed a little slow, but that could just be the computer. At other times it did seem to be moving at adequate speed.

Conclusion: It won't be my every day browser. I'll still stick with Firefox. Maybe it's the familiarity, but why fix what's not broken.

Start Menu.
I decided that it was only fair that I revisit the start menu. After my friend Marty left a comment on my earlier post about how the "tiles" could work, I decided that I would take a look at it. I understand it somewhat now, but I'm not convinced that it's a better interface than what was in previous versions of Windows. For now I plan to continue using the Classic Shell interface, but I still have the option to use the W10 start menu at any time.

If you spend the time getting your commonly used programs setup as tiles, then it could be beneficial. Aside from doing that, it seems that a lot of extra time and effort is expended in actually locating the program that you want. Sadly there are some things that do not show up in the Classic Shell menu, but can be found with the W10 menu. All newly installed programs will show up in both locations. I do not know why there is a disparity, but it seems to be mainly with Microsoft applications.


That's it's for this installment. Futures posts on the Windows 10 experience will be dependent on my deciding that there is actually something worth me saying about it.

Thanks for reading, I'd love to  know your thoughts.

The Windows 10 Experience | Part 1

Unless you've been living in a cave, or even if you have, you may have heard about Windows 10. The "big" thing about W10 is that Microsoft is offering a free upgrade to users of W7 or W8.1. With this in mind, I thought that someone might be interested in my experience with W10. This is the first, and hopefully not last, installment on this subject.

Very recently, I picked up a new laptop computer. It's not a high end machine, thought I wish that I could justify spending more on one. It's in many ways a replacement for the laptop that I got 5 years ago. The old one has a display that no longer works, but, thanks to the magic of the HDMI port, works well to watch streaming video from Hulu and other sources on the TV.

Not only does the new laptop solve the issue of having one to take on any trips that we go on, but also provides a needed computer for the children in doing their school.

So, Windows 8.1. I really have no interest in dealing with it. I've seen enough of W8/8.1 to know that I don't like it. I decided that my first project with this computer would be to upgrade to W10.  Really, it can't be worse than W8.1, and there is a chance that it's better, after all, it does have the start menu again.

Made In The U.S.A.?

Do you remember when it actually meant something to buy a product made in the U.S.A.? Can it really have been that long ago?

Years ago Wal-Mart proudly advertised that they sold items that were made in the U.S.A. Now it's a almost a struggle to find a product in their store that isn't made in another country. Perhaps I exaggerate a bit, but they sure don't promote "Made in the U.S.A." anymore.

Personally, I prefer getting products made in this country when I can, and supporting US companies. I'm not saying that I would avoid a foreign made product, but if I have my choice of equal quality products, I would rather have the US made version. Some items don't have equal counterparts, leaving no choice, of course.

Why do I bring this up? Recently in the news has been talk of the failed launched of the Obamacare website. Regardless of how you or I feel about Obamacare in general is not the point of this post. The thing that really struck me in the news, other than the extremely high cost of the website creation, was where the company responsible for most of the work is located. The work was done by what is essentially a Canadian company, not a US company.

Why? Someone please explain to me why a government would give such a large contract of work to a foreign company. Shouldn't there be a law that government contracts go to companies in the country. I can understand if there are no domestic companies that provide the product or service, then reach out to foreign companies. I'm willing to guess that there are plenty of companies in the United States that are more than capable of creating websites. Maybe the problems would be the same, but why are we sending tax dollars to another country for a product that is supposed to "serve" U.S. citizens?

Playing Around With Photos At Work | According To Craig

I'm a photographer, and I even have a photography blog and fledgling photography business, Craig Pifer Photography. My day job at the Enchanted Forest Theme Park doesn't involve photography, but I still really enjoy the job. On Friday I took my camera to work with me just for the fun of it. I snapped a few photos and played around with them a bit.

This little waterfall can be found at the Tiny Tune Train ride in the Kiddy Ride area. It, and the surrounding decorations, were built by Roger Tofte, the creator of the Enchanted Forest Theme Park. I've dubbed this little fall as Tofte Falls.

Barbeque Chicken with Homemade Sauce - Yum!

I've been playing with making my own barbeque sauce. Why? you may ask. Frankly it's an effort to avoid some of the garbage that goes into store bought BBQ sauce, mainly high fructose corn syrup (HFCS). In my opinionated opinion, HFCS should be avoided as much as possible. I'm sure there will still be certain vices, perhaps a Dr Pepper or two, that I will partake in, but if there is an option without HFCS, that is what I will choose.

Anyway, I've come up with a recipe that is acceptable enough that it's worth repeating. It's not too spicy, which the rest of the family appreciates, not too sweet, which the wife appreciates. It tastes enough like a BBQ sauce to go ahead and claim that's what it is.

The first couple of times I made sauce, I then added in some canned roast beef (from CostCo) to make some BBQ beef sandwiches. Tonight chicken was on the menu and BBQ sauce was mentioned. The children all thought that sounded good, so I went with it. I had a bit of a mishap to start with, but our Vitamix solved that.

Reasons why I don't celebrate x-mess

A few years ago, I wrote a blog post here titled 7 reasons why I'm glad I don't celebrate x-mess. All 7 of those reasons are very true even to this day, but I've decided to go ahead and write a post about why I don't celebrate x-mess.

I could really make this a long post by quoting scriptures and articles and, well just a whole lot of things. That is not the purpose of this post. If you want more detail information, let me know and I can direct you in the right places.

Who Doesn't Like Pecan Pie?

Well, if you are one of the odd few that don't like pecan pie, then this blog post is not for you. I rather like pecan pie, although it seems that I don't have it, or make it, nearly often enough. Recently I remedied the issue of not having made it in quite a while.

I would like to share my experience, and recipe, with you. I hope that you enjoy it, and that you decide that it's been too long since you have pecan pie. Go ahead, you know you want to, try this easy recipe.